Flood worry returns to UK

Less than six months after the clean-up operation began, retailers and small business owners across England and Wales are bracing themselves for more flooding as further heavy and prolonged rainstorms are forecast.As C-Store went to press, 83 flood warnings and seven severe flood warnings had been put in place by the Environment Agency in England and Wales, most focused on the river Severn between Worcester and Tewkesbury - the area worst hit by last summer's floods.Helen James, manager of Tewkesbury's Mitton Manor forecourt and convenience store, which was gutted by the floods of 2007, said people in the town were panicking. "Sandbags have been delivered to parts of the town and we are watching the water levels with dread," she said. After last summer's floods, Helen ensured that the store's refrigeration systems, electrical infrastructure and computer systems were all raised four feet above floor level. "We have taken all the precautions we can. All we can do now is hope that it won't happen again," she said.John Jackson, whose post office and convenience store in Toll Bar, South Yorkshire, was gutted by the waters, is more pessimistic. He and his wife Jenny have yet to re-open their store after the last round of floods, and parts of the town are once again under water."There is a real sense of gloom in the village," he said. "We are still living in a caravan, and now it looks like the nightmare could start again. The worst part is that I am just about to receive all the new equipment for the store. If I didn't really love the retail business, I would have sold up by now."